You know those little 'Wizards' that come with certain computer programs? Little animated characters that help you to do certain things like search or format a page?

I dreamt that you could choose from a vast range of animated characters and have it downloaded directly into your brain. It would then give you direct access to the internet, so you just had to think of what you wanted to know and this character, like a cyber-Jiminy Cricket on your shoulder, would tell you the answer.

The more I thought about it, I realised it's inevitable. I think, one day, we will all be wired up directly to the internet... with all of the world's accumulated knowledge literally in our heads, without the need to ever learn a single thing.

Of course, use of these Holiday Vouchers is "not valid public, school holidays, long weekends or certain special events. Please check with hotel as sometimes on availability you may be able to book, however a surcharge may apply."

So hopefully I have now proven that these "special offers" are not really that special after all, and Victorian Tourism Centre offers packages that are more expensive than you can get if you book with the hotels directly.

Congrats to Nicholas J Johnson, Australia's Honest Conman, for picking up second place in the Australian Skeptics Prizes for Critical Thinking for his school show 'Bad Science'. You can read more about it in his excellent blog here, and don't miss his show SCAMTASTIC starting tomorrow night!

I was over in Adelaide on Saturday night, it was a last minute booking, filling in for another act who was unable to do it. The show went well and I was looked after especially well by the event organiser. One thing I did want to mention was the hotel I stayed at. It was the Stamford Plaza, very classy, and pricey! (I was given a $35 allocation for dinner and all that got me was a 9" pizza and chips!) What really caught me off guard was in the hotel room itself.

Up on the wall by the bed was not a reproduction of a famous painting, not an original by a local artist, not even a large framed landscape photo... but instead.. this:

A cork bulletin board covered in promotional flyers for the hotel! First time I've ever seen anything like that!

As they're down to the final episode, here's the official website for NBC TV's Uri Geller/Criss Angel show 'Phenomenon'. You can see lots of videos of the contestants and take a look at the final four.

It's interesting that Channel Nine are plugging it as an upcoming 'Special Event'. It's not going to be that special if they're simply airing a live, interactive, viewers-vote American TV show that we'll already know who won... unless, of course, Channel Nine are planning to air an Australian version of 'Phenomenon'..? Imagine, all of Australia's top mentalists on the one show... who would win?